Need Advice re: bulk email ASPs

April 17, 2008 7:19 AM

Need advice/color regarding bulk email processing ASP's/ service providers

I'm trying to determine if I can outsource bulk email processing for a business where the email newsletter is the centerpiece of the business. Other option is to staff a team of email experts, host our own IP and develop relationships with major ISPs, which is expensive.

My fear is that if I use an outsource like DreamHost or MyEmma or Sparklist, etc., I'll always run into problems with email prioritization or blasts not going out timely, etc.

Can anyone provide insight/color regarding excellent or horrible experiences with any of these bulk mail service providers?
DreamHost
MyEmma
JangoMail
SparkList
any others you can name?

thanks for your help

posted by geoffbart to Computers & Internet (4 answers total)

I've used Campaign Monitor for about a year for a monthly newsletter and been very happy with the experience. The interface is very usable, the people are helpful, and my emails go out when I schedule them. They're also involved in trying to get web standards into email, which is a nice plus, and they're very conscientious about make sure you have all the proper permission to email to your lists. My only gripe is that it's challenging at this point to do A/B split testing.

(As an aside: DreamHost is primarily a web hosting provider, and I wouldn't necessarily look to them for ESP services.)
posted by epersonae at 7:53 AM on April 17, 2008

My company uses MagnetMail for their eLetters and I've never had a blast wait in the queue longer than 10 minutes, usually only 1-2 mins (and the option to schedule). Very helpful customer service. Web interface could use some work, but all the features are there -- authoring is fairly painless and the marketing honchos seem very happy with the link-tracking and other statistical feedback. My "bulk" is less than 10k recipients, though, so if you're doing hundreds of thousands you might need to get an idea of their capacity. (Their customer service number goes to a person[!], instead of a menu, if that gives you an idea of their size).
posted by cowbellemoo at 8:05 AM on April 17, 2008

I'd suggest either Campaign Monitor or MailChimp.

And I'd suggest avoiding the horrible term "blast", as it sounds spammy.
posted by malevolent at 10:29 AM on April 17, 2008

Response by poster: Good point -- "newsletter" not "spam." This is a true opt-in business where the "subscribers" really want to receive what we're sending out. Nothing sketchy--which is why I want to use an ICANN (sp?) compliant, totally above-board, white-listed service.

thanks for the advice, guys & gals.
posted by geoffbart at 10:47 AM on April 17, 2008